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Music

If Pendleton Ward had a love child with Betamax it would sound like the serene astral plane of vhs dream

In a market saturated with haze, shoegaze, dream pop and more, the real standout quality in an artist comes from their ability to break free of the ‘mediocre’ and the ‘pretty good’ to create brilliance. vhs dream is one of the few to do so, having just released a track full of depth and intrigue along with an equally impressive video.

vhs dream a e i o u

Let yourself fall into the comforting embrace of vhs dream. The duo deliver another gem of electronic dream pop to have you salivating for their album.

Originally spearheaded by Matthew Hosking as a solo act, vhs dream now boasts the talents of both Hosking and new addition Mayzie Wallen. The duo have developed immensely over the past year, working to refine their music from the dense textures of 2014’s release Wonderfully Hopeless to a more electronic, melody-based sound as seen in their latest single.

a e i o u is our first glimpse of what we can expect from the band’s upcoming album, set to be released later in the year. Swelling with ambience and a whole lot of fuzz, a e i o u embodies the best of dream pop and comes paired with a light-hearted, ‘young hearts run free’ notion. As vhs dream say, “[the single is] a reference to childhood learning and old memories… we wanted to embed a nostalgic thought or idea in an atmospheric track”. The instrumental piece sits comfortably at just over three minutes, allowing plenty of time for you to get lost in the intricate melody, the wall of sound, or even just your thoughts – arguably the sole purpose of the shoegaze sub-genre.

As for the video the band have remarked “The repetition of the images is an attempt to recollect something that occurred, with an inability to put the final thought together”. We see Hosking and Wallen in a range of familiar scenes, from children’s activities like blowing bubbles out in the open and running through the streets with a hula hoop in hand to the more brooding teen activity of sitting on a rooftop, drinking as the sun goes down. Through the shaky filming and almost sepia toned visuals, it’s clear we are stepping into a whimsical version of the duo’s pasts.

The creativity vhs dream show in their ability to develop intricate concepts stems from a deep understanding of their genre and the people experiencing their music. Despite trying to connect through a genre far less in your face than others, the duo have faith that listeners will be able to find at least one element to engage with. “In most cases, I think it’s harder [for audiences to understand instrumental music]. People usually connect to music with vocals because it contains the most human element in music,” vhs dream said. “In ambient/instrumental music, you have to search for something else to connect to. Whatever that may be”.

So set aside a few minutes of your day, find a quiet spot to sit down and be one with your thoughts, lost in the beautiful track that is a e i o u. vhs dream will be premiering their latest single and showcasing all their dream pop glory at Melbourne’s Evelyn Hotel for Harmonic Divisions 2; they’ll even be accompanied by local legends Spiral Arm, Togetherapart, Civique and more. Unfortunately we’ll have to wait until late November for vhs dream to release their debut album but in the meantime you can find a e i o u on the duo’s Bandcamp page.